EDITORIAL : PEACE PRIZE DESERVED; NORTHERN IRELAND LEADERS DISPLAYED COURAGE.WORKING for peace is commendable. Putting your life on the line for peace is more than commendable - it's extraordinary. The Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee (Den norske Nobelkomité) awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year. Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian parliament. The Director of the Nobel Institute, Professor Geir Lundestad, serves as secretary to the committee. paid tribute to the extraordinary on Friday when it awarded the Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is the name of one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. to two men who walked the extra mile - and more - to end bloodshed: John Hume John Hume (born 18 January 1937) is an Northern Irish politician, founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David Trimble. and David Trimble. They are the leaders of Northern Ireland's two main political parties. Hume, head of the Catholic Social Democratic and Labor Party, and Trimble, leader of the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party) is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland[1]. , were cited by the committee for their courageous efforts to halt ``the national religious and social conflict in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland: see Ireland, Northern. Northern Ireland Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupying the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland. Area: 5,461 sq mi (14,144 sq km). Population (2001): 1,685,267. that has cost over 3,500 people their lives.'' ``I think that today's announcement from the Nobel committee strengthens our peace process enormously because it tells all the people what the world wants to see on our streets,'' Hume said. Peace is what the world community and, we suspect, the vast majority of the people in Northern Ireland want to see. We can only hope that the people on the streets in Belfast and elsewhere will see things the same way as Hume and Trimble do, and then put away their guns and bombs and hatred for good. |
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